Diamondbacks' Hudson offers warning for those who hit Justin Upton

Diamondbacks All-Star Justin Upton was hit by 19 pitches
last season, the second-most in all of baseball.

"I'm not going to move," Upton said at Fan Fest in early
February. "So, I'm going to stand in the same spot again.
We'll see."

Upton is the team's best player, so it's little surprise
he was the victim of more than a few "messages" sent by
other teams. And, as is baseball custom, no one would have
been surprised if Arizona's pitchers showed they had their
teammate's back by drilling opposing hitters square in
theirs.

That didn't happen much last year, though, as the
Diamondbacks tended to retaliate with their bats more than
their arms, often times driving Upton in and scoring some
runs.

Upton said he expects things to be a little different this
season, and one of the team's best pitchers agrees.

"It really kind of got brought to our attention like
halfway through the year," Diamondbacks starter Daniel
Hudson told Arizona Sports 620's Burns and Gambo about how
many times Upton was hit. "At the same point in time we're
trying to get in a playoff push. Yeah, our players need to
get protected, but at the same time we need to concentrate
on winning the game."

The Diamondbacks did that often last season, but the fact
that their star got drilled more than his fair share of
times was not lost on Hudson and the pitching staff. As a
pitcher, Hudson understands that no one misses that
far inside unless they mean to, so it's not as if the
bean balls were unintentional. It's with that in mid that
the D-backs righty has a message for anyone planning on
plunking their right fielder.

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"If it's a starting pitcher, remember, he's got to hit,"
Hudson said. "They either have to hit their spots, or they
better expect something in return."

That's not to say the Diamondbacks won't still look to
make the opponent pay on the scoreboard. Also a guest on
Burns and Gambo, D-backs first baseman Paul Goldschmidt
said it's important to stick up for anyone who gets put on
base, whether they are hit or simply pitched around.

"You always want to stick up for your teammates,"
Goldsdchmidt said. "If you can punish the pitcher by
driving one in the gap and Upton's able to score from
first - or anyone, really, is able to score - it makes it
hurt a little more than just a hit batter and then you get
a double play and end the inning."

Interesting choice of words by Goldschmidt, as the team
"hurt" opposing teams who hit Upton by lighting up the
scoreboard. While the hope is that won't change, it
appears that's not the only pain opponents will feel if
they throw at Diamondbacks hitters.